Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation has won a contract to supply European rail operator Abellio Rail Südwest GmbH with 43 BOMBARDIER TALENT 2 multiple unit trains. The order is valued at approximately 215 million euro ($244 million US).
Starting in June 2019, the new electric multiple units will gradually enter passenger operation on the Stuttgart regional network in Baden-Württemberg’s Neckar Valley region in Germany. Bombardier will supply all 43 trains to Abellio by June 2020. The multiple-unit trains will be built at the Bombardier site in Hennigsdorf, Germany and the bogies are to be produced at the Bombardier plant in Siegen, Germany.
“Abellio has already established a long-standing successful collaboration with Bombardier, which we will now continue in the Neckar Valley region network. We consider the company a reliable partner and together with them we will happily provide our passengers with a comfortable and safe travel experience on the way to their destination," said Abellio CEO Stephan Krenz at an event to mark the contract signing. “With these new vehicles, we also want to set new standards in Baden-Württemberg that attain the same quality of leadership as we have achieved on the North Rhine-Westphalia networks,” explained Krenz.
"This order is a great achievement for Bombardier’s rail business and it also signifies the continuation of our successful and cooperative relationship with Abellio," said Germar Wacker, President of Mainline and Metros, Central/Eastern Europe at Bombardier Transportation. “We are pleased that Abellio relies on our modern TALENT 2 trains to further expand its mobility offering in Germany. These vehicles feature a high degree of passenger comfort and score points with their strong performance in terms of energy efficiency and reliability.”
The TALENT 2 trains for Abellio will be configured into 24 three-car and 19 five-car train sets, each with 163 or 273 seats respectively. These vehicles will be equipped with Wi-Fi and provide easy access for travellers with limited mobility as well as space for either 24 or 39 bicycles. In total, more than 350 of Bombardier’s TALENT 2 trains are already in service on Germany’s rail network. These trains form the backbone of the German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn’s regional fleet and are also in use by private transport companies such as Abellio, National Express and the Southwestern German Transport Company (SWEG). Thanks to their modular design principle, the TALENT 2 train can be flexibly adapted and used as both commuter and regional transport.
The contract with Abellio is another achievement for Bombardier in the most recent tenders in Baden-Württemberg. The company asserted itself last year as a train supplier for Deutsche Bahn Regio AG with the TALENT 2 trains during the tender for the regional network Gäu-Murr. The so-called “Baden-Württemberg Model” is supporting the vehicle financing for both networks. This arrangement sees the transport company selling the vehicles to the regional rail authority of Baden-Württemberg (Landesanstalt Schienenfahrzeuge Baden Württemberg, SFBW) with the regional rail authority leasing them back to the transport company.
Source: Bombardier